Uconn

For Huskies, Rutgers game is a grudge match BY ED DAIGNEAULT Republican-American

STORRS — It's hardly a secret that UConn and Rutgers don't care for each other much, at least in the football sense. From a men's basketball standpoint, the Scarlet Knights have been little more than a nuisance.

In football, the Scarlet Knights are the closest thing the Huskies have to a rival. And UConn cornerback Dwayne Gratz took it to another level Tuesday.

"To be honest, I have never liked Rutgers and I never will," Gratz said. "I hate Rutgers."

His comment is surprising in two senses. For one, Gratz generally doesn't have a lot to say. For another, Gratz grew up in Piscataway, N.J., which just happens to be the town where High Point Solutions Stadium, formerly Rutgers Stadium, sits.

Gratz lost some affinity for his home-state and hometown school because it didn't recruit him until after UConn offered him a scholarship. Gratz wanted badly to play for the Scarlet Knights.

This goes way back for the Piscataway High graduate. He wants nothing more than to beat Rutgers, which can also be said for the other 11 New Jersey residents on UConn's roster. However, the rest of them were a bit more subdued in their comments, maybe under orders from the coaching staff.

"(Gratz) didn't get the memo," joked fellow New Jerseyan and UConn receiver Nick Williams. "He's much more vocal about it than me. I'm internalizing it a little bit more. I'm sure he's giving you guys some material for this week."

None of the Huskies have overly fond memories of the Scarlet Knights. No current member of the team has experienced more than one victory against Rutgers and that came last year at Rentschler Field, a 40-22 triumph that might have been the best game the Huskies played in 2011.

Prior to that, the Huskies had lost three straight games against their rivals. Those three defeats came by a combined total of nine points. Rutgers has not only been a rival for the Huskies, it has also been a consistent source of frustration.

UConn took that out on the Scarlet Knights last year by knocking them out of the race for the Big East's BCS spot. This year, the Scarlet Knights are undefeated, ranked No. 22 and appear to be the early favorite to win the league title.

The Huskies could put a crimp in another BCS run for Rutgers, though it would take a huge effort. Fortunately, there are enough UConn guys from New Jersey to infect their teammates with a heightened sense of urgency for the Big East opener.

"I wanted to go to Rutgers," said defensive tackle Ryan Wirth, who hails from Medford, N.J. "My story is like everybody else's. I guess I wasn't good enough. I'm happy where I ended up, and beating Rutgers would mean everything.

"But it's still just one game. We have bigger goals than just beating Rutgers."

No apologies: The people inside the Burton Family Football Complex were more than happy to walk away with a victory Saturday against Buffalo. Those outside it were less than happy with UConn going to a conservative approach early in the second half to assure the victory.

Coach Paul Pasqualoni isn't about to apologize for the approach. All that matters to him is that the Huskies put one into the win column.

"I didn't feel like I had to apologize," Pasqualoni said. "We had the game 24-7 and made them play catch-up. I did not want to give them any kind of field position at all. They were backed up constantly in the second half of that game. We felt pretty good about it, to tell you the truth."

Offensive coordinator George DeLeone admitted the Huskies intentionally went conservative with the play calling in the second half. He said it wasn't fan-friendly but was the best way to win the game.

Cochran plans: Freshman quarterback Casey Cochran, the Masuk High product whom many had hoped would compete for the starting job, is headed to a redshirt season unless, as Pasqualoni said, "a hand grenade goes off."

Cochran, who broke his thumb prior to the preseason, is still wearing a plastic cast on the left hand. Pasqualoni said the Huskies had hoped the cast would be removed prior to the Sept. 15 game at Maryland, but X-rays then didn't come out the way the medical staff would have liked.

Pasqualoni said Cochran can take long snaps and can throw the ball, but he can't get under and take hard snaps yet.

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